The Lebanese Red Cross Delegation in Sidon — and Other News

◆ On the 17th of this month a delegation of the ladies of the Lebanese Red Cross, headed by the wife of His Excellency the Prime Minister Riad Bey el-Solh, paid a visit to Sidon, where the Sidon committee had arranged a gathering in a handsome building donated by the notable Izzat Bey Joumblatt to serve as a dispensary for the Red Cross. This gathering brought together a number of Sidon's physicians, who have donated their precious time to assist the gracious ladies of Sidon in the service of the sick and the needy.

Mrs. Edma Joumblatt opened the gathering with a splendid word in which she welcomed the gracious visitor and her companions; she was followed by Mrs. Labiba Thabet with a kind word. Then Dr. Azouri delivered off-hand, on his own behalf and in the name of his colleagues, a word that stirred admiration.

The wife of His Excellency Riad Bey replied to these fine speeches with a most charming word, confessing that she yields nothing to her husband in attachment and love for Sidon and its people. She presented the sum of one thousand Lebanese lira as a gift from the Lebanese government to the Red Cross in Sidon, and a quantity of medicines sent by the central committee, and she personally donated ten lengths of cloth to be distributed among the poor and the needy. The working committee, the physicians, and the nurses, with Mr. Emile Reif, then turned to apportioning the responsibilities of the work and organizing the dispensary.

Afterward the delegation, with a number of Sidon's ladies, went on to Bramieh, to the palaces of the Joumblatt family, and lunched at the table of Izzat Bey Joumblatt, where they were received with a hospitality beyond compare, which showed what dignity, standing, and open-handedness belong to this noble house. In the evening the delegation returned to Beirut, full of admiration and esteem for the devotion of Sidon's ladies and physicians in the service of suffering humanity, and for the warm welcome it had met in Sidon and in the palace of the noble Joumblatts.

◆ Seventeen women's associations met in Jaffa and resolved to work in solidarity. They formed first-aid squads and a higher committee whose task is to keep in touch with the National Committee, and they then began preparing clothes for distribution to the wounded and their families. The Women's Solidarity Association, moreover, has offered its house to serve as a workroom in which these clothes are to be sewn.

◆ We received with sorrow and grief the news of the death of the estimable Mrs. Nadida Osseiran, wife of Mr. Hasan al-Fadl, one of the notables of Sidon.

The Woman's Voice offers the Osseiran and al-Fadl families the tenderest sentiments of condolence.